HEAR US RISE
March 6, 2020 through April 18, 2021 in the New Dialogues Gallery at Wing Luke Museum
ABOUT THE EXHIBIT
Hear Us Rise: APA Voices in Feminism
March 6, 2020 through April 18, 2021
New Dialogues Gallery
This exhibit highlights Asian Pacific American women and other marginalized genders that have challenged society’s expectations, defied its restrictions, and fought for equality and opportunity since their arrival in the United States. You’ll hear personal stories from powerful women that have participated in and drawn inspiration from movements like Civil Rights and Black Power to APA and LGBTQ movements.
HISTORY TO NOTE
QUEEN LILI’UOKILANI
Queen Lili’uokilani, Hawai’i’s last monarch, was overthrown by the U.S. Government’s colonial interests in 1893. As Queen, she supported women’s education and financial independence, seeding a legacy of women leaders in Hawaiian politics. She also fought peacefully, valiantly, and unsuccessfully to retain Hawaiian control of the land, a struggle that continues to this day.
“Miles after miles of rich country went by as we gazed from the moving train, and all this vast extent of territory belonged to the United States. And yet this great and powerful nation must go across two thousand miles of sea, and take from the poor Hawaiians their little spots in the broad Pacific.”
LEARN MORE
2017 documentary by Edgy Lee, “Liliuokalani: Reflections of Our Queen”
Liliuokalani’s 1898 memoir: “Hawai’is Story by Hawai’is Queen”
PATSY MINK
Patsy Mink, a third-generation Japanese American from Hawai’i, faced discrimination at home and on the mainland because of her race, her gender, and her interracial marriage. She became the first woman of color elected to Congress in 1964, and went on to help enact legislation to support equality for women, and education for everyone. Her signature bill, Title IX, banned gender discrimination by schools that receive federal funding. Title IX is famous for expanding athletic opportunities for women, but its effects were much broader: the act also outlawed discrimination in hiring and admissions (a common practice at the time), and forced schools to address on-campus sexual harassment.
LEARN MORE
2008 documentary by Kimberlee Bassford: Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority
Patsy T. Mink Papers, Library of Congress
MITSUYE YAMADA
The WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans shifted power among generations and genders. Issei men lost their place as leaders and providers. Issei women found their household duties eased considerably in the camps. Nisei men were expected to fight for the country that saw them as “the enemy.” As a Nisei woman, Mitsuye Yamada faced a different dilemma. Her U.S.-born brother was expelled from college because of his pacifist beliefs. She was a pacifist too, and a Japanese national to boot, but she was allowed to stay in school As her father put it, her radical beliefs “didn’t make any difference to anyone.” As a “girl,” she posed no danger and could be safely ignored.
LEARN MORE
Invisibility is an Unnatural Disaster, 1981, by Mitsuye Yamada
Mayumi Tsutakawa’s article about Mitsuye Yamada
Densho’s oral history interview with Mitsuye Yamada
BEYOND THE EXHIBIT
OUR READING LIST
Check out this curated list of additional readings about and by the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander women who have challenged expectations, defied restrictions, and fought for equality.